'Foxes don't suffer' claim at conference (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

'Foxes don't suffer' claim at conference

HUNTING with hounds should be preserved in order to prevent less suffering to foxes and maintain the best habitats possible for wildlife.

That was the view of experts in the field of animal welfare and countryside conservation made this week.

Jim Barrington, Secretary for the All Party Parliamentary Middle Way Group, was joined by co-founder of Vets for Hunting Dr Lewis Thomas and ecologist and conservationist Desmond Hobson at the conference at the Hare and Hounds Hotel in Westonbirt on Tuesday.

They presented arguments supporting foxhunting with hounds in preference to shooting, which they claimed was a less humane way of culling the animal.

The benefits to the countryside were also outlined and backed by figures showing that farmers who hunt also act as countryside guardians by maintaining woodland and hedgerows to provide a better environment for wildlife.

The findings included a study conducted on behalf of the Middle Way Group, which found 50 per cent of foxes were wounded - not killed - by shotgun fire.

The panels' conclusion that foxhunting with dogs was beneficial to both animal welfare and the countryside was backed by members of the audience, which included vets, farmers and hunt members.

Helen Row, a retired vet with 30 years experience, and a member of the Beaufort and Berkeley hunts, said finding the natural balance for both the countryside and the fox population was key.

She said: "If you don't manage woodland you are actually losing a lot of habitat because all the shrubland is growing and all the trees are being stifled.

"Fox mange has been a huge problem throughout the fox population but through hunting the weakest and oldest are killed.

"It also disperses the young foxes around the area so they go into other habitats and breed."

Brian Fanshaw used to farm near Broadway. He has hunted for 26 years and for the last ten years been campaigning full-time for the Council of Hunting Associations.

He said: "It's a difficult one to actually argue but the hunter can provide more information about the wildlife where he's hunting then anyone else.

"In a man-made world an animal that's of no consequence to man is not going to have the same future as an animal that has a good consequence to man.

"One of the things we have to have is the value of the hunter to the aesthetic quality of the countryside."

Martin Scott, from Quenington is the ex-master of the Vale of the White Horse hunt and has 56-years hunting experience.

He said: "There are so many different aspects to it all at the moment but the animal welfare one is the most pertinent because it's not being addressed by the Government.

"Farming and hunting go hand in hand."

Speaking after the meeting, Gill Purser, from the Cotswold Support Group for the Abolition of Hunting, said many of the arguments were just old ones being dragged out again by the hunting community.

She said: "There have always been many more foxes shot than hunted so if they were so concerned they should have raised it before.

"This is something they've just thought of now, it's another smokescreen.

"They've never provided any evidence to show that what they do isn't driven by entertainment value rather than any service to the countryside."